Barbara Ehrenreich: How Looking at the Bright Side Has Undermined America

Marcie Sillman
10/26/2009 at 9:00 a.m.

Is looking on the bright side a bad thing? That's what columnist Barbara Ehrenreich claims. She says our culture of positive thinking has hurt us. If we focus on the positive, do we ignore reality and the problems at hand? Has the optimism of corporate America blinded us from seeing risks? Ehrenreich joins us to burst some bubbles and reveal how looking on the bright side may do more harm than good.

Guest(s)

Barbara Ehrenreich is a columnist, essayist and the author of nearly 20 books. She is well known for her book, "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America." From 1991 to 1997, she was a columnist for Time magazine. She is a frequent contributor to Harper's, The Nation, and The Progressive. She is an honorary co–chair of the Democratic Socialists of America, and founded United Professionals, a non–profit for white–collar workers that reaches out to the "unemployed, the underemployed, and the anxiously employed." Her new book is "Bright–Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America."